Have Had Cough And Chest Pain. Was Smoker. X-ray Normal. What Else Could It Be?

Posted on Fri, 20 Sep 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 Answered on

Tue, 8 Oct 2013 Last reviewed on

Question :
I have had cough and chest pain for 3 months. I am 29 and an ex smoker of 5 pack years. I have had 2 chest X-rays the last 3 months one was yesterday. 11 months ago I had clean chest ct because of neurologic issues. With all this clean imaging but with a chronic cough and chest pain could this be lung cancer

Thanks in advance.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Unlikely to be lung cancer

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

Given the normal recent chest Xrays and the older CT scans, the possibility of lung cancer is quite low. Chronic cough and chest pain may be because of smoking induced lung damage, or even gastroesophageal reflux disease.

I would think more on these lines rather than lung cancer.

Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer further follow up queries, if any.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar